Eckhart Tolle observed that as busy people we're all striving to achieve something, to achieve some sort of noteworthy achievement that will justify our existence, even though we may not be able to define what it is. "It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole lives waiting to start living." I feel like Jesus looked at a sea of humanity and had deep compassion not just for those without sufficient food, shelter and love, but for those who have things in abundance yet as as lost and confused as all the rest. In Matthew 7:7-14, Jesus describes what he sees, "“Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open. If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! 11 And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them? “Do for others what you want them to do for you. This is the teaching of the laws of Moses in a nutshell. “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it." Francis Chan describes the human condition perfectly "Our greatest fear in life should not be failure, but succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter." As Christians, Jesus offers us the chance to be UNCOMMON, To live by a different set of values, priorities, and purpose that is more noble and higher than what Earth can contain. As followers of Jesus, we define success differently. So this Sunday, I want to dare you to live an Uncommon Life.